Collegial Ethnographic Research: Transforming Social Practices Through Koryosaram Youth and College Student Collaboration

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: The Power of Collaborative Research: Co-Contstructing Inquiries, Worlds, and Realities

Abstract

This paper investigates the transformative potential of collegial ethnographic research that unites first-year college students and Koryosaram youth. Employing participatory action research, the study invited both groups as co-researchers to critically engage with the lived realities of sociopolitical disruption, alienation, and cultural preservation. Collaborative inquiry generated multimodal artifacts (e.g., artworks, digital media, and AI-generated media) that reimagine institutional and informal educational practices. Analysis reveals how joint participation fostered reciprocal learning, re-shaped identity formation, and enabled youth to critique and envision more just policies. By centering community members as knowledge producers, this paper demonstrates the promise of decolonizing methodologies to both transform practice and offer actionable pathways for supporting diasporic belonging in educational systems.

Author

• Ahram Park, University of Utah